The Xiaomi Mi 11 is one of the biggest phone launches we're expecting in early 2021, and we may have just got a first big glimpse at the device, via a leaked benchmark test that shines some light on details.
As spotted by tech site Dealintech, a new Xiaomi phone has been spotted in the records of benchmark website Geekbench, and there are a few interesting things in this listing - the handset's identified only by a codename, and the chipset isn't specified either, which is odd for Geekbench.
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Some specifics of the chipset are mentioned though, and because of these, it looks very likely the chipset is actually the Snapdragon 875. We're expecting this to be the top chipset used in most Android phones in 2021, and manufacturers Qualcomm are expected to launch it in December 2020.
It's then not too far of a leap to speculate that this phone is the Xiaomi Mi 11. The Mi 9 and Mi 10 from the company were the first smartphones to use Qualcomm's then-new Snapdragon 855 and 865 respectively, and the score shown by the test is higher than any Android phones we've seen this year.
However there's one small issue with the listing that gives us some doubt that this is the Xiaomi Mi 11.
Not much RAM
While the Xiaomi Mi 10 was available with 8GB RAM, the listed phone only shows 6GB - that's a bit of a downgrade, especially given Xiaomi tends to prioritize high performance specs in its phones. Sure, they could be trialling a 6GB RAM version alongside an 8GB version, but a downgrade like that seems unlike Xiaomi.
Instead, it's possible we're not actually looking the Xiaomi Mi 11, but a different phone from the company. But which?
Our guess - or hope - would be the Xiaomi Mi Note 11. The Mi Note 10, launched November 2019, was nearly perfect, with its only issue being a weak chipset. If the Mi Note 11 came with the Snapdragon 875, and was launched in December after the Qualcomm conference, it could well be a five-star phone.
Perhaps this is something different though. Even though Xiaomi announced its Mi Mix series was done for, rumors continue to linger that the line could come back - similarly this could be a Pocophone handset, as those tend to have top specs, and there's no solid release schedule we can rely on to predict when they come.
We can't say for sure, but we'd certainly hope to see the Xiaomi Mi Note 11 if it's coming - if not, maybe this Snapdragon 875 phone actually is the Mi 11 after all. As that device launch gets nearer, we'd expect more rumors to corroborate or contradict the information we've heard here.
